In light of the above, the PS said the Ministry seeks to embrace modern technologies in mining; machine that can process and separate ore with different individual metals that include copper, gold, lead and silver. “The machines will not only increase production but will also expedite the mineral processing for artisanal miners in particular”, he added.

Dr. Ibrahim was speaking last week at the Canadian pavilion during this year’s Indaba Conference at the Cape Town International Conference Centre (CTICC). The PS exchanged ideas with Mr. Ryan McEachern, Managing Director, and MSTA Canada on how best Kenya can benefit from the advanced mining technology in Canada to promote artisanal miners in Kenya.

The PS underscored the importance of improving technology for the Artisanal miners in particular saying that they had a huge potential to transform the Sector but lack of modern mining equipment and technical capacity impedes this noble course.

He said it was prudent for mining as an economic activity to embrace comprehensive technological advancement that starts with the exploration, exploitation and value addition.

Dr. Ibrahim said such technology and equipment should be simple and affordable if artisanal miners are to maximize on minerals extraction as well as guarantee their safety. Similarly, the technology must be environmentally friendly and afford enhanced capacity for sustainable mining.

The advanced mining technology for artisanal miners will enhance their capacity and hence increase their contribution towards the national economic growth. The improve earnings will ultimately improve the Sector’s position to become the highest revenue earner for the country.

Mr. Ryan McEachern took the PS through advance technology used in Canada that can greatly improve the artisanal miners; he said that machine can separate polymetallic ores individual metal simultaneously.

Base Titanium Statement on the Inauguration of the Mineral Rights Board

“Base Titanium welcomes the inauguration of the Mineral Rights Board, a key reform of the mining sector contained in the Mining Act 2016. We look forward to seeing prospecting and mining licenses being approved and having the sector make a greater contribution to Kenya’s economic transformation in line with Cabinet Secretary Kazungu’s goal of contributing 10% to GDP by 2030.”

Joe Schwarz

General Manager External Affairs and Development

Kenya Mineral Rights Board Inaugurated

Mr Abel K. Chumba, Chairperson Mineral Rights Board

Tuesday, 18th July 2017 (Nairobi, Kenya)… The Cabinet Secretary Ministry of Mining Hon. Dan Kazungu, EGH, has inaugurated the Mineral Rights Board (MRB) paving the way for issuance of mining licences as required under the Mining Act 2016.

Two persons appointed by the Cabinet Secretary with professional qualifications and experience (Ms.Vivienne Apopo Yeda and Dr.Gathuru Mburu).

Speaking during the inauguration on Monday, CS Dan Kazungu said,

“Today’s inauguration of the Mineral Rights Board is the epitome of our reform agenda for the Mining sector. This is something the Ministry has been looking forward to as Industry stakeholders have been impatiently waiting for this day to come to pass so that the piled up expired licenses and new applications can be considered in earnest by the Board.”

According to section 31 of the Mining Act 2016, the Mineral Rights Board will be tasked with advising and giving recommendations in writing to the cabinet secretary on granting, rejection, retention, renewal, suspension, revocation, variation, assignment, trading, tendering or transfer of mineral rights.

In addition, the MRB will have the power to declare certain minerals as strategic minerals and the cessation, suspension or curtailment of production in respect to mining licences. The nine members will also determine fees, charges and royalties payable for a mineral right or mineral as well as advise on areas suitable for small scale and artisanal mining among other duties.

The Cabinet Secretary expressed confidence in the Mineral Rights Board and assured them of his and the ministry’s support in discharging their functions. He also clarified that, “the delay in inauguration of the Mineral rights Board was due to circumstances beyond our control. The key enabling regulations had to go through rigorous public participation sessions from stakeholders and parliament. Parliament only approved these regulations at the end of June before proceeding on recess."

Having the Mineral Rights Board in place now repeals the old system where decisions on licensing were made by a single office and individual in the person of the Commissioner of Mines and Geology. The MRB is set to provide more consultative processes of evaluation and consideration of concession and mineral rights applications as well as renewals that will ensure transparency and accountability in the management of the Mining Sector in Kenya. This will in turn reduce the time taken to approve applications via the online cadaster. The Mining The newly appointed Chairperson and members of the Mineral Rights Board under section (2) (a) and (h) shall hold office for a period of three years and may be eligible for re appointment for a further one term.

Re-Advertisement for Interns

Applications are invited from suitably qualified Kenyans for the following intern positions.

Kenya Hosts inaugural Gem and Jewellery Trade Fair 2017

Wednesday, 5th July 2017 (Nairobi, Kenya)… The Ministry of Mining in conjunction with the Association of Women in the Extractives Industry in Kenya (AWEIK) have organized the first ever Gem and Jewellery fair in Kenya set to take place 6-7th July 2017 at the Intercontinental Hotel, in Nairobi Kenya.

The Trade Fair is the first of its kind in Kenya and will bring together various women and youth groups as well as local, regional and international traders in gemstones and precious metals.

Speaking during a media briefing in Nairobi, Cabinet Secretary for Mining, Hon. Dan Kazungu said, “The aim of the Gem and Jewellery trade fair is to not only position Kenya as a regional hub for precious minerals, value addition and trading but also to promote and create awareness among the youth, women and the general public of the opportunities available in the precious minerals sub-sector.”

The three-day event also supported by the Kenya Chamber of Mines hopes to provide further business development services to its members by facilitating improved access to markets.

“This year’s Gem and Jewellery Trade Fair will include an exhibition and a mine tour to Taita Taveta which is the heart of the Gemstones in Kenya”, said Lucy Githaiga the chairperson AWEIK.

Kenya is endowed with over some of the world’s most sought after gemstones such as the blue Sapphire, Ruby, Tsavorite, Green and red Garnet, Aquamarine among others. “With a fast growing Gemstone sub-sector, regional trade platforms such as the Gem and Jewellery Trade fair are aimed at creating opportunities and open up markets for local miners (both small scale and large scale) to redirect focus on precious stones and metals to Kenya”, he added.

Most of these gemstones are exported abroad in their raw form for processing and value addition fetching a much higher value at the expense of the miner; it is thus in regard to this that the Ministry has established the first Gemstone Value Addition Centre in Voi Taita Taveta County to enhance the value of our mineral in an endeavor to fetch competitive prices at the international market.

“The value addition process will greatly encourage local miners and traders of these stones since they will now market finished goods instead of export them in raw form. Similar Value Addition Centres will be replicated in mineral rich counties for facilitating value addition. The Gem Centres will be for identification and certification, faceting/cutting, polishing and heat treatment, it will also provide training and marketing”, said CS Kazungu

The hosting of this Fair will afford the country a great opportunity to show case her mineral wealth and also encourage mining rich communities to embrace mining as an economic activity that has immense potential to transform not only the socio-economic wellbeing of Kenyans but also contribute to the national economic growth.

Similarly, the Trade Fair will present a platform for both investors and locals to interact market and share experiences on how best to maximize on the huge potential that lies in this lucrative and yet to be fully exploited sector.

Mining is a multi-trillion sector that can transform any economy in a very short time when fully explored and exploited. This Fair is therefore testimony of what the Sector portends for investors and national economies.

In the last one year Kenya has jumped 16 places to position 86 from 102 in the global mining destination attractiveness survey by Fraser Institute. By creating an enabling environment for our miners, the Ministry hopes Kenya will become a top destination for mining investment. With a fast growing Gemstone sub-sector, regional trade platforms such as the Gem and Jewellery Trade fair are aimed at creating opportunities and open up markets for local miners (both small scale and large scale) to redirect focus on precious stones and metals to Kenya.

Appraisal and Digitalization of Ministry’s Documents at Madini House

The Ministry of Mining in collaboration with the Kenya National Archives and Documentation Service (KNADS) is undertaking a major exercise to appraise and scan and digitize records relating to the Elemi Triangle.

The exercise being conducted at the Madini House, Industrial Area seeks to reconstruct and digitize mining related documents dating back to 1904, these document are critical and of great value not only to the Ministry but the Mining Sector as a whole. The task is expected to last about six (6) having commenced 15th December 2016.

This exercise was necessitated by a directive by the Head of Public Service that all Ministries improve the status of storage and access to old records. It is against this background Dr. Ibrahim Mohammed, the Principal Secretary, Ministry of Mining constituted an internal committee to plan and undertake the exercise in collaboration with a the Kenya National Archives and Documentation Service.

Some of the documents, those of the 1900’s are in tartars and are being restored by the Kenya National Archives, scanned and conserved as data for the Sector as they contain critical information that is of great value not only to the Ministry, but the Mining Sector as a whole.

There are over 2,390 files which have so far been identified for permanent preservation and have since been digitized and concereved for safe storage, whilst out of about 3150 files identified for retention only 350 have been scanned and digitized.

The Kenya National Archives and Documentation Service (KNADS) provided a team of six technical officers and 16 Casuals, while the Ministry provided adequate personnel to assist in the dusting and listing of the records. In total, the team consists of over 50 people carrying out the following tasks:

The work is being undertaken in two stages as follows:-

Sorting, appraising and processing of all old physical files and documents.

Scanning and digitizing of documents selected for preservation or retention.So far 20,127 files and documents have appraised and selected according to the table below:-

Category

Number of files

Preservation

2,390

Retention

3,150

Destruction

8,900

Finance/Accounts

2,170

Human Resource (Personal) files

964

Vehicles

71

NEMA reports

2,416

Turkana

29

Current

37

Total

20,127

This exercise has exposed the need tofuther build capcaities in records management skills to safe gaurd and store data which form an integral part of the Ministry at the Mining Sector. Non-recordeds materilas should be seperated from valuable data for ease of retrival and space.Similarly, the digitization has facilitaed the restoration of documents that where hirthto rendered useless due to defacing as a result of age and poor storage. It has also given life to documnats and record that were ‘dead’from this excersice, it is prudent that the Ministry embaces fully morden filiing methods andf indexing that are quick and save on space that is digitization and conservation of records and discard outdated filing systems which are tedious, cumbersome occcupy alot of space and are difficult to revtrive.With digitization, large old maps were appraised, scanned and concerved in flash disks .

It thus prdent that an appropriate Electronic Document and Records Management System (EDRMS)is procured and installed for storing, searching and rendering the already digitized records. This will ensure that only digital copies are used while the original records are secured and only accessed in exceptional circumstances. This mahine will greatly expedite the processing of storing nad reteving data, includng maps